Generation to Generation

“Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.”  Exodus 34:15-16

This week as I read this passage of scripture I was initially caught by verse 16 where the wives lead the husbands into sin.  But as I meditated on this scripture in its entirety there was something more God wanted to show me.  This blog today is not just for moms but also for dads. 

At first look I had seen the importance of me as a woman staying in a good obedient relationship with God as not to lead my husband into sin.  As I stepped back, to take more into view, I saw that the greater damage came from the generations of weak men before.  God warns the Israelites, “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land.”  This is His warning but the consequence takes place generation after generation. As the compromising obedience of one weak generation trickles down, diluting more and more as it goes, until they find their sons completely led away into sin worshipping other gods.  It is only a few verses before this that God proclaims:

 

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”  Exodus 34:6-7

Never have I felt the conviction so strong to pray for my husband to have an unwavering obedience to the Lord, undiluted and full of strength, enduring as long as he lives.  I also found it no coincidence as my husband and I shared that morning where the Lord had taken us in our quiet times that he was taken to 2 Samuel.  Here the Lord tells of all the blessings that He wants to pour out on David’s family, generation after generation. 

 

“Lord Almighty, God of Israel, you have revealed this to your servant, saying, ‘I will build a house for you.’ So your servant has found courage to pray this prayer to you. Sovereign Lord, you are God! Your covenant is trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, Sovereign Lord, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.” 2 Samuel: 27-28

 

It was like the Lord was laying out before us the blessing and the consequence, the warning and the choice:

 

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Joshua 24:14-16

 

As parents, nothing we do for our children is more important than having a wholehearted obedience to the Lord.   We have to decide whom we will serve and do it with our whole heart.  There can be no compromising on our obedience, because, as we have seen with the Israelites and most likely in our own families, that one weak generation trickles down diluting more and more as it goes. 

I want the Lord to “build my house.”  I want to see the fruit of my obedience.  I want that to trickle down to the next generation making it stronger instead of diluting it.  I want God’s glory to shine bright and spill over touching many lives. 

What is it you want?  And what are you willing to do about it?  Will you continue to compromise in your obedience to the Lord? Or is today the day that you choose  “…as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”